Exhibitor



I. M. GURTLER.

EXHIBITOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22,1920.

1,370,436. Pa ented Man 1, 1921.

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Witness A T TORNEYS.

J. M. GURTLER.

EXHIBITOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1920.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

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EXHIBITOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22. 1920.

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ATTORNEY.

I; M. GURTLER.

EXHIBIIOR.

APPLICATION man JUNE 22, 1920.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

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L/sqaiv M G'urZZer ATTORNEYS.

1. M. GURTLER.

EXHlBlTOR. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, I920.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

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JOSEPH M. GURTLER, F SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK.

EXHIBITOR.

Application filed June 22,

To (17X whom it away, concern:

Be it knor-in that if, Josnrrr M. Gnn'rnnn,

'tizen of the United States. residing at h t rar2 springs, in c couny .a tate of New York, have invented cern new and useful Improvements in Ex- "s: and I do hereby declare the followbe a full. clear. and exact description invention, such as will enable others led in the art to which it appertains to and use the same. 11S invention relates to changeable e and more especially to those con- Q mechanism for shifting the articles bited from one tray to another; and the d object of he invention is to produce a i iine in which may be displayed pictures, samples of wall paper, fabrics, etc., and other articles or signs carried by individual leaves or cards.

The invention includes means for automatically taking these leaves one at a time from a lower tray and carrying; them upward before th person or persons to whom they are to be exhibited, and dropping them into an upper tray; and the machine includes the necessary details of construction for carrying out this purpose and for adjusting the device so that it will act on cards or leaves of various widths.

Details are set forth below and shown in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevation from the front (that is. that side toward the spectator) with one of the removable side pieces omitted and the other in place, the small belts on the inner wheels, and the claw hanging from the center of the main roller.

Fig. 2 is a right side elevation.

Fig. 3 is an elevation from the rear (that is, that side toward the operator) with both trays omitted and one of the side wings urned nearly flat.

F i is a central vertical section with both trays in place.

= 'g. 5 is a horizontal section taken on at the line of Fig. 4, with the wings ed downward and the cam holding the ng'ers outward. rig. 6 is a cross sectional detailthrough he lower tray.

o is

O :3 nd partly in elevation.

8 is a disassembled perspective view of the rest finger.

The casing of this mac.-inc includes side Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

1920. Serial No. 390,792.

plates 1, a front plate 2 having a lower door 3 which maybe let down to expose the interior mechanism, and above this door an opening bounded on its sides by movable side pieces 4 provided with slots 6 through which pass thumb screws 7 so that the side pieces can be adjusted to regulate the width of the sight through which the spectator sees the cards or leaves 7 as they are moved upward by the mechanism yet to be described. The back of the casing adjacent the operator is open, and its top may have a hinged door 8. Across the casino; near its rear extend two rods 9 upon which lies the bottom 10 of the upper tray, the same having a hook 11 engaging over the upper rod to hold this tray in position to receive the leaves after they have been exhibited. Pivoted in eyes 12 on the rear edge of the sides is a shaft 13 supporting the rear edge of a platform 14 having guides 15 between which slides a rib 16 on the bottom 1? of a lower tray, the same having one fixed side 18 and its opposite side 19 hinged to the bottom at 20 and drawn normally to upright position by a spring 21. At the lower end of this tray is a lip 22 bent obliquely inward over the bottom 17 so that the stack of leaves 7' shall be held with their upper ends projecting farther and farther inward; and each leaf at said upper end has a strip or rib 27 secured across its back. for a purpose yet to appear. It may be here stated that the lower tray can he slid in over the platform 14 and a hook 23 thereon dropped over the inner edge of said platform to hold the stack of leaves ready to be taken from it one by one by the mechanism yet to be described; but if wider leaves are to be used a wider tray must be substituted. The upper tray has one fixed upright side 28 and a lip 29 at its lower end, and when this tray rests on the rods 9 it will receive either wider or narrower leaves after they have been exhibited. Both trays are removable and replaceable.

Extending across the machine and journaled in the sides is a main shaft 30 here shown as driven by a crank handle 31. al.- though it could be rotated by other means if desired, and a gear 32 on this shaft meshes with another gear 33 on a counter shaft 34 also journaled across the machine but in rear of the lower portion of its sight opening. This shaft has two drums 35 and is cut away between them as at 36, and hinged at 37 at one edge of the cut away portion is a claw 38 intended to engage the rib 27 of the uppermost leaf in the lower tray at each rotation of the counter shaft.

Around said drums are trained two rather wide belts or webs 40, preferably having across their outer faces ribs 41 of roughened material such as sand. paper. The rear stretches of these webs are carried upward over idlers 42 while their front stretches pass over a rod, and at their upper ends these webs or belts pass over other drums or pulleys 43 mounted on a shaft at the top of the framework just under the hinged door 8. Mounted on a rod below the counter shaft are four pulleys 44, and loose on an upper rod just forward of the upper drums 43 are two pulleys 45, while inwardly projecting pins or stub shafts 46 disposed just below the sight opening carry yet two more pulleys 47. Two small belts 48 are provided, and each incloses one of the lower pulleys 44, its forward stretch passing around a pulley 47 and then up and around a pulley 45, while its rearward stretch overlies the web. For wide articles these small belts will be placed on the outermost lower pulleys 44 but the other pulleys will slide on their shafts; and for narrower articles or leaves these small belts will be placed on the inner pulleys 44, the side pieces 4 being adjusted to correspond. It will be understood without further illustration that the lower rod might carry a number of pulleys at each end, or a single pulley having a number of grooves in it so that these guide belts could be shifted as desired. They are moved by contact with the upwardly moving front stretches of the webs, the webs underlying and the beltsoverlying the leaves being exhibited.

The left end of the main shaft 30 carries a toothed sector 50 which at each revolution of the shaft engages a gear 51 and imparts a partial rotation to an upright shaft 52 having threads 53 at its lower end. Underlying the inner end of the platform 14 is a finger 54 which extends outward through a slot in one side 1 ll 1 of the casing and is secured to a spur and to the lower end of an upright rod 56 slidably mounted in a tubular guide 57 which is pivotally supported at 58 in the frame-v-rork and connected with one of the bearings of the shaft by a spring 59. The contraction of this spring normally engages the spur with the threads 5-3, and as the shaft and screw are turned by each revolution of the main shaft, the threads cause the spur to rise. This movement is permitted by the rod 56 sliding upward into the guide 57, and the spur carries the finger 54, which in turn raises the inner end of the platform 14 and therefore of the lower tray. If now the threads 53 correspond with the thickness of the articles at their ribbed ends 27 it will be clear that these ribs are successively raised to a proner position to be grasped by said claw ll hen the lower tray is first put in, nearly filled with leaves 7, the spur will be manually disengaged from the threads 53 and reset at a low point thereon,

will be understood.

it cam 60 is secured to the center of the main shaft 30, and at each revolution thereof this cam passes between two plungers 61. mounted in guides 62 and borne normally inward by springs 63. The outer end of each plunger is extended upward and rear ward as an arm 64, and in this arm is adjustably mounted a finger 65 projecting inward through a guide (56 under a wing (37. Said wing is hinged at 68 to a pin (59 adjustably mounted in an eye 70 at the upper end of a bracket 71 carried by the side of the casing. The result of this con struction is that when the cam moves the plungers outward the fingers 65 are carried outward in their guides 66 and the wings permitted to drop, so that what lies upon them when they are substantially horizontal will now fall between them. The upper tray 10 carries on its lip 29 an upstanding finger 79 coacting with said wings, and against this finger the lower end of each article rests while its side edges are supported by wings; and when the latter are tripped the article falls into the tray.

in. operation, the upper tray having been put into position and the lower tray filled and slid onto the platform and the latter adjusted, the operator takes his place behind the machine and manipulates the crank handle 31 if this machine be driven by hand, or controls whatever source of power is employed. At each revolution of the counter shaft the claw drops onto the uppermost leaf behind its rib, and as the claw continues forward in the rotation of the drum, this leaf is drawn off the stack in said tray and part way over the belt 48 into position for eng gement of its strip '27 by a rib 41 by which the leaf is now drawn in between the webs and the guide belts, and is carried upward past the sight o iening in front of the spectator. Obviously the movement may be continuous or inte mittent. If the article exhibited is not o, the operator passes it on and exanother; if the article attracts the spectator, the exhibitor may want to permit it to remain a moment for inspection. Therefore the driving mechanism should be well under the control of the operator. Passing up forwa 'd of the webs and under the guide belts, the article is carried over the upper drums and projected rearward, and it drops onto the wings 67 and against the finger 79; and at the next rotation of the main shaft, the cam actuates the plungers and tilts the wings to dump this article onto the pile which accumulates in the upper tray. From time to time the operator r moves the upper tray and its leaves, either returning them to the lower tray or putting into the latter other leaves which are to be exhibited. The leaves will lie in the lower tray with their backs and their ribs 27 upward; and they will accumulate in the upper tray with their faces upward as will be understood.

In order to deflect the lower leaves onto the belt 48. the deflector spring finger 72 is provided. It rises from the base and has its upper end bent part way over the belt and its roller 44-.

\Vhat is claimed is:

1. In an exhibitor, the combination with a housing having a sight opening in its front, a main drum behind the lower portion of said opening and cut away at its inidlength, and a second drum behind the upper portion of such opening; of endless webs traveling around the ends of the drums, guide belts overlying the front stretches of said webs, and means on the lower drum in the cut out portion of said drum between said webs for grasping articles and starting them upward between the webs and belts.

2. In an exhibitor, the combination with a. housing having a sight opening in its front, a main drum behind the lower portion of said opening and cut away at its midlength, and a second drum behind the upper portion of such opening; of endless webs traveling around the ends of the drums, guide belts overlying the front stretches of said webs, a claw hinged to the cut-away portion of the lower drum, a spring finger across which the claw moves at each rotation of this drum, and means for feeding articles into position to be grasped by the claw and started upward between said webs and belts.

3. In an exhibitor, the combination with a housing having a sight opening in its front. a main drum behind the lower portion of said opening and cut away at its midlength, and a second drum behind the upper portion of such opening; of endless webs traveling around the ends of the drums, guide belts overlying the front stretches of said webs, a claw hinged'to the cut-away portion of the lower drum, a spring finger across which the claw moves at each rotation of this drum, a lower tray supporting articles in position to be grasped by said claw and started upward between said webs and belts, and an upper tray into which I the exhibited articles are delivered.

In an exhibitor. the combination with a housing having a sight opening in its front, a main drum behind the lower por tion of said opening and cut away at its midlengt-h, and a second drum behind the upper portion of such opening; of endless webs traveling around the ends of the drums, guide belts overlying the front stretches of said webs, aclaw hinged to the cut away portion of the lower drum, a spring finger across which the claw moves at each rotation of this drum, a lower tray in position to feed articles to said claw, means connected with the lower drum for raising this tray step by step as the articles are extracted therefrom, and an upper tray into which the exhibited articles are delivered.

5. In an exhibitor having a sight opening in its front, the combination with upper and lower drums, endless webs traveling around the end portions of said, drums, guide belts overlying the forward stretches of the webs along said sight opening, and mechanism on the lower drum for grasping articles one by one and starting them upward between the webs and belts; of a feed tray for supplying the articles to said mechanism, a platform supporting said tray, a finger underlying the platform and having a wing, an upright screw with whose threads said wing is engaged, and connections between one drum and said screw for turning the latter to raise the platform intermittently.

6. In an e.:hibitor having a sight opening in its front, the combination with upper and lower drums, endless webs traveling around the end portions of said drums, guide belts overlying the forward stretches of the webs along said sight opening, and mechanism on the lower drum for grasping articles one by one and starting them upward between the webs and belts; of a feed tray for supplying the articles to said mechanism, a platform supporting said tray, a finger underlying the platform and having a wing, a rod rising from the wing, a guide pivoted to the framework and within which the rod is mounted, an upright shaft journaled in bearings on the framework and having a threaded portion, a spring connecting the guide with one of the bearings for drawing the wing normally into engagement with the threads, and means for turning said shaft intermittently.

7. In an exhibitor, the combination with a lower feed tray, an upper receiving tray, mechanism for taking articles from the former tray and delivering them to the latter tray, and a main shaft for driving said mechanism, the shaft having a toothed sector; of a platform supporting said lower tray, a wing connected therewith and having an upright rod, :1 pivoted guide within which said rod slides, an upright shaft having a gear standing in the path of said sector, the shaft having a thread, and yielding means bearing the wing normally into engagement with said thread.

8. In an exhibitor, the combination with a framework, a platform hinged in the lower portion thereof and having guides, a lower tray movably mounted on said guides for delivering the articles to be exhibited, an upper tray removably mounted in the framework for receiving the articles delivered, means for carrying the articles from the first to the second trays, and a main shaft for actuating said means, the shaft having a toothed sector; of a finger at the inner end of said platform, a spur on said finger, an upright shaft having threads With which said spur engages, and a gear on this shaft engaged by the sector at each revolution of the main shaft.

9. In an exhibitor, the combination with a lower feed tray, an upper receiving tray, means for taking articles from the former and delivering them one by one to the latter, and driving mechanism including a main shaft; of wings hinged above the sides of the receiving tray, spring-pressed plungers having fingers underlying the wings to hold them normally raised, and a cam on said main shaft for actuating the plungers at intervals to retract the fingers and permit the wings to drop.

10. In a machine of the class described,

the combination with carrier mechanism for moving sheet articles one by one, and driving mechanism therefor including a main shaft; of a tray for receiving said articles, Wings hinged above the sides of the tray, fingers holding the wings raised but permitting them to drop to deliver an article into the tray, plungers for actuating said'fingers, and a cam on said shaft for actuating the plungers-at intervals.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination With carrier mechanism for moving sheet articles of various widths one by one, and driving mechanism therefor including a main shaft; of a tray for receiving said articles, Wings above the sides of said tray, hinged supports for the wings adjustable to the Width of the articles, a cam on said main shaft, spring-pressed plungers actuated by said cam, and fingers adjustably connected with the plungers and underlying the wings, for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

V JOSEPH M. GURTLE Witnesses:

1 RALPH PINTO, CLEM MINGAY. 

